


XF Friday Nights 5: It's a Man's Man's Man's World

by ML_is_me



Series: XF Friday Nights [5]
Category: The X-Files
Genre: Gen, XF Friday Nights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-31 01:17:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10888815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ML_is_me/pseuds/ML_is_me
Summary: The survival skills you develop dependon the environment you live in.  Missing scenes anddifferent POVs from "The Jersey Devil"





	XF Friday Nights 5: It's a Man's Man's Man's World

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fifth story in an  
> exploration of the early seasons. They are loosely  
> tied together but can be read as standalones as  
> well.

-Medical Examiner's Office, Atlantic City-

"Doctor Harris?"

Glenna Harris looked up from the report on her  
desk. Jordan, one of her assistants, stood in her  
doorway. 

"Doctor Harris, could you come take a look at this?  
It's the homeless man they brought in this  
morning."

"You mean Roger Crockett," Glenna suggested. She  
always insisted on her staff calling their clients  
by their names, if known.

"Yes, Mr. Crockett. His injuries...well, come see  
for yourself."

She followed her assistant out of the office and  
into the autopsy bay. The dead man lay on the  
table. Internal examination hadn't yet been  
started. The assistant directed Glenna's attention  
to the man's right shoulder. The right arm was  
missing. The wound was ragged, as if the arm had  
been gnawed off. But the teeth marks just below  
the clavicle were distinctive. 

"Was the injury caused by what I think it was  
caused?" Jordan asked.

Glenna looked at the man's shoulder, and the teeth  
marks below the clavicle a bit more closely.  
"Well, if you think it was caused by human teeth, I  
think you may be right."

Jordan nodded, examining the wound more closely. 

"Do you mind if I assist on this one?"

"Really?" Jordan asked, rather pleased that Dr.  
Harris would take the time, and call it an  
"assist". She didn't care what the cops said; Dr.  
Harris was a cool boss.

"It was a good catch, Jordan. And I think it would  
be good to have a second set of eyes on this one."

Jordan smiled and continued with her work. Dr.  
Harris was tough and a little humorless, but she  
always gave credit where credit was due. 

_Can things get any weirder?_ Glenna thought later  
as she returned to her office. There had been  
reports of sightings of some kind of "wild man"  
amongst the homeless. The PD didn't usually give  
much credence to these reports, considering the  
source reason enough not to.

But they might need to now, she reflected.  
Certainly this wasn't the first time a homeless  
person had wandered into the wilderness and died  
from exposure, and not the first time that a body  
had been ravaged by something in the wild. But  
human bites?

The next day, things got weirder. It started with  
a call from an FBI agent. Not the local office; an  
agent from Washington, DC. He wanted to drive down  
with his partner to review the report and talk to  
Dr. Harris in person. 

"News sure travels fast," Glenna said to Jordan.  
"What did you do, sell the story to the National  
Enquirer?"

Jordan looked a little abashed. "Someone from the  
cop shop called and asked for the results to close  
out his report, and I told him. I didn't speak to  
anyone else. Maybe Detective Thompson called them  
in?"

_That sounds unlikely_ Glenna thought. "You're  
sure you didn't tell anyone else?" Glenna pressed  
her assistant. "You know if this gets blown up,  
the cops won't get blamed for spreading the story,  
we will. And then we'll have Detective Thompson  
down on us for blowing a case."

"Like he cares about some homeless guy," Jordan  
muttered.

"Well, we care. And that will have to do. They're  
on their way, it's too late to do anything about  
it." 

When the FBI agent finally arrived, Glenna was  
surprised to see that his partner was female. And  
she was not just female, but a petite female, not  
at all whom Glenna Harris expected to see. She  
never thought about the fact of female FBI agents.  
They had to be as rare as female detectives were  
around here.

Agent Mulder asked the questions, but Agent Scully  
was the one who scrutinized the body most  
carefully. Agent Mulder's questions seemed to  
indicate that he already had some idea of who or  
what had done this, but he wanted the proof.

Agent Scully listened but contributed little to the  
conversation. She watched her partner carefully,  
as if she was waiting for him to convince her.  
There was something not quite in sync with them,  
and Glenna wasn't sure exactly what it was.

She liked the idea of having a contact at the FBI,  
and had no problem cooperating if asked. Weren't  
they all on the same team, after all? Didn't they  
all have the same goal in mind? Besides, what  
resources would the FBI bring to bear if they were  
interested?

"I don't recall asking for the FBI's involvement,"  
Detective Thompson said from the door of the  
examination room.

"We're here in an unofficial capacity," said Agent  
Mulder, which made Glenna feel like a fool. And  
learning that Agent Scully was a medical doctor was  
as much of a surprise to her as Scully's surprise  
at learning _she_ was the reason that she and her  
partner had come to Atlantic City.

The detective hated the idea of anyone encroaching  
on his turf, as he'd made plain in the past. Now,  
he made it plain to the two agents. Actually, he  
ignored Agent Scully entirely and addressed himself  
to Agent Mulder. Agent Mulder seemed very calm,  
but there was a tightening of his jaw muscles that  
did not bode well. 

"For God's sakes, Tommy, this is no time to get  
pissy," Glenna spoke up, more to alert the agents  
that Detective Thompson was not someone to cross,  
than to caution the detective. She knew that he  
would pay no attention to her request.

For several moments, it looked as if the two men  
might come to blows. Then, with a touch to his arm  
and a quiet, "Agent Mulder," Agent Scully got her  
partner to back down.

Glenna watched them go with some regret. She would  
have liked the opportunity to talk more with Agent  
Scully.

Once the two FBI agents left, Tommy dropped even  
the pretense of politeness. 

"What the hell were you thinking, talking to those  
guys?" he yelled. "Any information released on an  
active case should be cleared through me!"

"Calm down, Tommy," Glenna said. "Whatever  
happened to cooperation?"

"This is a local case, and we're handling it," he  
raged. "I don't want anyone giving the DA or  
anyone else the idea that we can't handle this!  
I've talked to you before about your staff leaking  
stuff."

"It wasn't my staff," Glenna interrupted. "I asked  
Jordan. I asked the dieners. No one said  
anything. It was one of your guys."

"There is no way one of my guys would have said  
anything to the FBI about this," Tommy insisted.  
"If this blows up, it'll be your fault, and I'll  
make sure everyone knows it."

_Oh, I'm sure you will_ thought Glenna.

"And by the way," he added as he reached the door.  
"Don't you _ever_ talk to me like that in front of  
anyone again." 

x-x-x

-Homicide Squad Room, Atlantic City PD-

"I want you all to look out for some guy out there  
asking questions about Roger Crockett," Detective  
Thompson told his squad. 

"A reporter?" One of the men asked.

"No, worse. He's FBI. He's out of his  
jurisdiction. I don't know what he's looking for,  
but he ain't gonna find it."

There was a general murmur of agreement as Thompson  
dismissed his men and left the room.

"Hey Jack," one of the men called to one of his  
colleagues.

"Yeah?" A scruffy-looking man, sipping tea out of  
a foam cup, responded. He looked like he'd just  
wandered off the streets to get warm, dressed in  
cast-off clothing and raggedy gloves. 

"Aren't you doing undercover at the homeless camp  
tonight?" 

"Just like every night, until we catch this guy."

"Well, maybe this Fed would like to help you  
tonight. You still got that picture your kid drew  
of the Devil?"

"Uh huh," Jack answered cautiously.

"If the Fibbie comes around, show it to him."

x-x-x

"Squad room...Hey Jack, where you calling from?"  
"The Galaxy Gateway."

"Is the Fibbie with you?"

"Nah, he gave me his key. He's taking my place  
tonight."

"What's the deal? Did he make you?"

"Nope, he thought I was the real deal. He took the  
bait. That picture my Jimmy drew -- you woulda  
thought it was proof of Big Foot or something."

"What a sucker. Okay, we'll bring him in when we  
do a sweep. Just one more question for you: the  
Galaxy? Are you serious?"

"What can I say? The Feds are cheapskates."

"No kiddin'."

x-x-x

-Atlantic City Morgue, a few days later-

Glenna Harris was surprised to see Agent Mulder  
back.

She'd heard that Agent Mulder had gotten "lost in  
the system" over the weekend -- a tactic seldom  
used on a brother officer unless they really wanted  
to send a message.

It appeared that Agent Mulder didn't get that  
message, as here he was back again, partner in tow,  
along with a park ranger and another man,  
introduced as Dr. Diamond from the University of  
Maryland Anthropology Department.

"We heard that another body was recovered," Agent  
Mulder said. He gestured toward Ranger Brouillet,  
who nodded. Mulder seemed not at all chastened by  
his prolonged tour of the Atlantic City jail  
system. 

"Well, if they picked it up, nobody logged the body  
on the chart," Glenna said. "I sure haven't seen  
it."

Agent Scully, stoic as always, stood by and  
listened, but did not seem to share Mulder's  
enthusiasm.

"I'm afraid we may have called you down here for  
nothing," Agent Scully said to Dr. Diamond.

"They're sweeping it under the carpet," Mulder  
insisted.

"Why?" Dr. Diamond asked.

"Any publicity and you've got the streets crawling  
with the kind of people who aren't here to play the  
crap tables. Word gets out there's something still  
on the loose, forget it," Mulder said.

Without further ado, he led his companions out of  
the office, already making plans to find this other  
creature.

Dr. Harris picked up the phone. "Get me Detective  
Thompson. I want to know why a body found in the  
forest last night hasn't been sent to the morgue."

Two minutes later, Detective Thompson was at her  
office door. "I figured you'd just tell your  
friends at the FBI, that's why," he said.

"What are you doing with the body, giving it the  
'tour'?" Glenna asked.

"It's really none of your business, is it?"  
Thompson said. "You get the bodies when we give  
you the bodies."

"Much as you'd like to be, Tommy, you are not my  
boss," Glenna reminded him. "I don't answer to  
you."

"You have a responsibility to the Department and to  
ensuring that information pertaining to a case  
isn't released prematurely or to the wrong people,  
and you _do_ answer for that! Whose side are you  
on, anyway?"

"The victim's, same as you," Glenna Harris said  
pointedly. "In any case, it's too late, they  
already knew. I think you're carrying this whole  
macho 'I can handle this myself' line too far, Tommy."

"You just run your morgue, and leave the policing  
to me," Detective Thompson snapped. "You body  
jockeys are all police wannabes. Think you know  
about investigations and what you're really doing  
is obstructing justice."

"Now, wait just a minute, Tommy. You have no right  
to come in here and make accusations --"

"I don't have time for this," Thompson said. "I  
have a murderer to catch. You just stick to your  
bodies."

x-x-x

Case closed. She would never have heard it from  
Detective Thompson, but later that same day, two  
bodies were delivered to the morgue: a John and a  
Jane Doe, both showing signs of having lived  
outside of civilization for a long, long time.

She did not often let herself feel too much emotion  
toward her clients, but something about the  
circumstances of their lives, not their deaths,  
tugged at her. Life lived on the most primitive of  
levels. Life reduced to the essentials. How did  
you know you had a hard life if you never knew any  
other kind?

"Shot while attacking an officer," she read on the  
attached report. It seemed wrong that it had been  
necessary to shoot an unarmed, naked woman for  
attacking a man who, presumably, was clothed and  
armed.

She shook her head and went back to her office.

x-x-x 

The next day Glenna received a call which indicated  
that perhaps the case was not so open and shut as  
Tommy Thompson would like.

"Doctor Harris, this is Agent Dana Scully. I'd  
like to ask you a favor, if I may."

Surprised, Glenna said, "Okay. Is this about the  
so-called 'Jersey Devil'?"

"Yes, it is. We were unable to get jurisdiction in  
the case, but I thought if I called, colleague to  
colleague...I am a pathologist as well as an FBI  
agent. I didn't know if you knew that."

"I recall Agent Mulder saying something about you  
being a medical doctor. So it's true? He wasn't  
just saying that?"

"Agent Mulder doesn't lie," Agent Scully said. "I  
_am_ a medical doctor."

"No offense meant, _Doctor_ Scully. Can I ask how  
you ended up in the FBI?" Glenna asked in spite of  
herself. So Agent Dana Scully could just as easily  
have been ME Dana Scully, dealing with the Tommy  
Thompsons of the world, instead of investigating  
cases herself.

A faint sigh mixed with a laugh could be heard  
before Scully said, "No offense taken. It's a long  
story."

Glenna waited but it seemed that there would be no  
further explanation. Instead, she asked, "Is this  
Agent Mulder's request, or yours?"

There was a short pause, and then Agent Scully  
said, "It's important to both of us to see it  
through to the end. Both Agent Mulder and I have  
an interest in the identities of both the bodies."

"I see," Glenna said.

"We've gotten permission from the Attorney  
General's office to review the findings. Detective  
Thompson has agreed to release the results to us."

"You could have had the AG just order us to release  
them, or sent an official request."

"Yes, I could have. And procedurally, I suppose  
that's the right thing to do. But I thought you'd  
appreciate being asked rather than ordered."

"That's a nice distinction," Glenna murmured.

"Also, Dr. Diamond is interested. I'd like to ask  
if he could assist in the autopsy, and perhaps do a  
medical examination?"

"Are you the fixer, Agent Scully?" Glenna asked  
suddenly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Are you the one who smoothes the path when your  
partner pisses people off?"

"No," Agent Scully said stiffly. "We are both here  
to solve cases, and to speak for the victims. It  
may well be that the so-called Jersey Devil was  
responsible for some deaths, but she was also a  
victim."

"You don't need to tell me that," Glenna said.  
"But Detective Thompson sees it otherwise."

"That's why I didn't go to him," Scully said.

"So is this a woman-to-woman thing?"

"No, it's a colleague-to-colleague thing," Scully  
insisted.

"Okay then," Glenna said, not convinced. "How long  
have you been in the FBI?"

"Long enough to know how things work," Scully said.  
"How long have you been an ME?"

"Long enough to know how things work," Glenna said  
in return.

Another short silence. Glenna broke it first.

"Have Doctor Diamond call me, and we can schedule a  
time for a medical examination of the body."

"Thank you, Doctor Harris," Dana Scully said.  
"I'll let him know."

"Good luck, Doctor Scully," Glenna added.

"Thank you, Doctor Harris. You, too," Scully  
replied.

-end-

**Author's Note:**

> Some fun facts:
> 
> According to the FBI website, there are 12,000  
> Special Agents in the FBI, of which 2,000 are  
> women. (This factoid is from 2010, when this story was written)
> 
> According to Policeemployment.com, women make up  
> about 12% of the total law enforcement field.
> 
> It annoyed me just a little bit that the ME was  
> always referred to by her first name -- when  
> referred to by name at all -- and not even a last  
> name in the credits. So I gave her a last name and  
> a little more to do.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
